Photo credit: Creation Swap user Marian Trinidad
Once, a friend of mine ask me to take a whiff of some smelling salts. In order not to appear weak, I did.
Turns out those things are potent.
I got a headache that lasted for about an hour. And I can still, even right now, remember that smell so vividly that it gives me the chills.
These salts are meant for reviving ‘dead’ people. They leave a mark on you so significant that you’ll remember that smell for the rest of your life. When you hear someone talking about smelling salts, you’re taken right back to that moment when you smelled them.
The Mark of Love
And that’s what God’s mercy and love does to us. It wakes us up from death. It revives us from our slumber.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air… – Ephesians 2:1-2
We were held captive by our sin. Chained to our death.
But God’s love pulled us out of our slumber. Out of the mess. It woke us to the beauty offered in forgiveness and beckoned us with hope. God’s love said, “I know your past. I understand your heart better than you do. But I want you anyway.”
And I need that reminder. Every day I need it. Because my heart is prone to wander and doubt. It’s prone to forget even the most important Truth it could ever know: God knows me and still loves me.
I need to go back and smell the salts again. Remind myself of the potency of grace. Feel the chills of the salts one more time.
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation…” – Psalm 51:12
*Photo credit: Creation Swap (Marian Trinidad)
